[Review] Juice Cleanse with EGA Juice Clinic: 5 Tips for First-Timers

3 words to describe the outcome of my 1-day juice cleanse: REFRESHED. DETOXED. RESET.

For those unfamiliar with juice cleansing, this happens when one replaces his/ her meals with fruit and vegetable-based juices for a period of 1 to 7 days. I don't believe in crash diets and diet pills (super big no no!), but drinking these juices was definitely something palatable.

 

Why I did a Juice Cleanse

For a foodie like myself, my recent trip to Hong Kong felt like a journey in paradise but the 1-week over-indulgence resulted in indigestion thereafter. To solve the bloatedness issues after a week long food trip to Hong Kong, I decided to try a juice cleanse - something I heard about before, but didn't consider having.

One thing I would like to highlight that my BMI is a healthy 19 and I generally eat healthily, so weight loss was definitely not the goal.

 

First, a Consultation Session

There are a few companies in Singapore that offer juice cleansing, but why I chose EGA Juice Clinic is because its fruit and vegetable-based juices and other superfoods are specially concocted based on the Ayurveda philosophy to recreate balance and strengthen our body.

The beliefs resonated with me, as I truly believe that medicine is sometimes unnecessary, and the body is usually capable of repairing itself if well-rested and nourished with the right food.



My juice cleanse programme first began with a session with the vaidya (Ayurveda physician) and Dr Ratheesh was very knowledgeable. Amongst others, he shared that we all fall under one or a combination of the 3 body types - Vata (generally those who have high metabolic rate and are energetic), Pitta (generally those who have much body heat and of medium body build) or Kapha (generally those with large build) - and we should take food that best suit our body needs.

Apart from learning that I was of the Pitta body type, I was also reminded of other lifestyle tips which seemed common sense yet really important to follow for good general health. For instance, one should exercise only before food (not after) and the optimum sleeping time should be from 10pm to 6am (see clock below).

A testament of one who truly took concern in my well-being, Dr Ratheesh also checked that I didn't fall under one of these groups that would not be suitable for a juice fast: pregnant, sick, diabetic or possess chronic illnesses.

What the Juice Fast Consisted Of

4 types of juice cleanse packages are available, Soft, Medium, Hard and Dare, and Dr Ratheesh advised that the Medium one was most suitable for me. This was also said to be more palatable than Dare which is vegetable-based and usually needed more acquiring to.

Whilst juice fasting could be for as long as 7 days, mine was a 1-day one as I had not tried any form of juice fast or dieting before - and it was somthing I was open to.

After the consultation, I informed the staff the date that I wanted to start the cleanse. As the juices had to be specially cold-pressed and were 100% natural, I headed down to the clinic to collect them 1 day before starting the programme to ensure that they were of optimal freshness.

On the day of the juice fast, my diet consisted of, together with plain water, 6 types of 500-ml cold-pressed fruit juices and then a final 45-ml power shot. Something interesting I observed was that the juices were usually mixed with spices (e.g. tumeric and ginger), and this seemed aligned to Chinese belief that raw food are cooling and heaty food such as spices should be taken to neutralise the body.

It is said that we eat with our eyes first. Throughout the day, it was interesting guessing what the next juice would taste like. For instance, the first 7.30am CLEANSE one (with lemon, honey, tumeric etc) looked like an unassuming sweet orange juice, but the strong spicy ginger undertones could be overwhelming for some.

Nontheless, most of the others were more palatable, such as the next 10am BRIGHT one (with orange, apple, pineapple, cinnamon etc) that tasted like guava juice and the breakfast juice drink that I was probably still craving for. My favourite juice had to be the 12nn NIRVANA one (with carrot and coconut water), as the coconut water made the concoction overall very refreshing.

For optimal results, the juices should also be taken out of the refrigerator for 15 minutes before consumption, and I was advised to sit down whilst taking the juice sip by sip.

 

Challenges

Whilst I was excited to try the different types of juices, to be honest I was a little fearful about how my body would react as I had not tried any form of dieting before (the closest is religious fasting/ abstinence from meat). 

Indeed, I shall be open and admit that this fast didn't come easy. For a start, the first juice was very spicy due to the ginger and other spices. I even had loose bowls right after that (I'm not sure if it was coincidential or a sign that detox was happening already). 

Also, I experienced hunger pangs especially during lunch time and began smelling comfort food like porridge and siew mai - even though (I swear!) I was nowhere near them. 

Sleepiness was something I also had to shake off. Perhaps that happened because I usually need a daily dose of caffeine and my body was experiencing some cold turkey from the lack of it.

 

Results

Nonetheless, I am glad I persevered till the final 10pm power shot to complete the 1-day juice fast.

True to Ayurvedic teaching and my body's natural call, I slept by 10pm. Perhaps it was the body's way of reacting to a juice cleanse, but I had a really good night's rest of 9 hours till the next day after.

I woke up feeling refreshed and detoxed. The bloatedness feeling had definitely dispersed and I felt that my whole body was reset. Somehow, I also felt that my stomach was flatter - though like I mentioned, weight loss was not my goal of the juice fast.

To be honest, I had even wished that I had taken a longer juice fast... So yes, another "next time" for me please!

 

5 Tips

I hope I have helped to demystify what and how juice fasting is, especially to those who have heard of this concept/ hype but never tried it before.

Whilst I definitely can't claim to be an expert in this, here are some tips and personal advice for first-timers:

1. Prep the body by cutting down meat before the juice fast. This definitely helps one to get used to a vegan diet.
2. Sleep early the day before. Apart from helping to avoid that caffeine crave, adequate rest means that the body is at its optimal on the day of your juice cleanse.
3. Remember to keep hydrated. It would be easy to think that one would be consuming enough liquids with all those juices. However, remember that our daily diet calls for at least 8 glasses of water and 3-lires of juices definitely won't be enough!
4. Do this on day(s) without social functions. Pick a day with the least distractions - be it a weekend, weekday or off-day. Don't be that wet blanket and make others feel guilty whilst they are trying to enjoy their favourite chocolate cake!
5. Discipline. Yes - disciple, disciple, discipline. Always keep that end goal in mind and perservere. It really isn't too hard. :)

Conclusion

There shouldn't be a misconception that juice cleanse is merely for weight loss. Leading an Ayurvedic-based lifestyle and regular clean eating/ detox are important for good general health and to prevent modern diseases like diabetes or high cholesterol.

Juice fast cleanse packages are available at S$90-100/ day.

Alternatively, each bottle of 250-ml fresh cold-pressed juice starts from S$8.50. Available in-store or online. 

EGA Juice Clinic (3 branches)

(1) Forum the Shopping Mall, #B1-11

(2) Cluny Court, #01-04A

(3) Marine One, #B2-30 *new*

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Let me know what you think of having these 100% natural, freshly-made, vegan juices in the Comments below!

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